Muzzle brake



Dec. 17, 1963 w. E. AULABAUGH 3,114,289

MUZZLE BRAKE Filed July 12, 1962 Q- 5 6 F '9- 7 William E Au/abaug/r 1N VEN TOR.

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This invention relates to a novel and useful muzzle brake designed primarily for attachment to the muzzle end of a gun barrel other than a shotgun barrel. The muzzle brake of the instant invention includes an elongated tubular assembly which has one end adapted for securement to the muzde end of a barrel with the tubular assembly longitudinally aligned with the barrel. The tubular assembly includes longitudinally spaced and alternately disposed large and small diameter portions and the small diameter portions are of a diameter only slightly larger than the bore of the barrel to which the muzzle brake is secured. Accondingl the muzzle brake is not particularly well adapted for securcment to a shotgun unless that shotgun is to be used exclusively for firing slugs instead of quantities of shot which have a tendency to spread as soon as they leave the end of a bore.

The muzzle brake of the instant invention has been designed so as to blend in with the appearance of the muzzle end of a barrel and has as one of its main objects to provide a muzzle brake which will substantially reduce the ear blast of a rifle or hand gun.

A further object of this invention, in accordance with the immediately preceding object, is to provide a muzzle brake which will substantially reduce the recoil of the firearm to which it is secured.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a muzzle brake which will be readily adapted for securement to various types of gun barrels.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a muzzle brake which will substantially reduce the ear blast of a gun and its recoil by slowing down the gases being discharged out of the end of the gun barrel to which the muzzle brake is secured without slowing down the bullet or slug which is forced out of the muzzle end of a barrel by the gas whose velocity is to be reduced by the muzzle brake.

A final object of this invention to be specifically enumerated herein is to provide a muzzle brake in accordance with the preceding objects which will conform to conventional forms of manufacture, be of simple construction and automatic in operation so as to provide a device that will be economically feasible, long lasting and relatively trouble free in operation.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being bad to the accoman in drawin formina part hereof, wherein like nu- D D .L

merals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the muzzle end of a gun barrel shown with the muzzle brake of the instant invention mounted thereon;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinal vertical sectional view taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 22 of PTGURE l;

FlGURE 3 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view similar to that of FTGURE 2 but showing the manner in which a board is allowed to pass through the muzzle brake while the gas is ejecting the bullet or three times expanded and twice compressed before being discharged into the atmosphere;

FIGURE 4 is an exploded side elevational view of the muzzle brake; and

FIGURES 5, 6 and 7 are transverse vertical sectional views taken substantially upon the planes indicated by the Edilfi Patented Bee. 1?, llfidS section lines 5-5, 6-4 and 77 of FIGURE 2, respectively.

With attention now directed more specifically to the drawings the numeral 10 generally designates a gun barrel which has a rifled bore 12 formed longitudinally therethrough. The gun barrel 12 has an externally threaded diametrically reduced terminal end portion 14 at its muzzle end and a sleeve adapter 16 comprising a part of the muzzle brake of the instant invention which is generally designated by the reference numeral 18 is secured to the externally threaded diametrically reduced end portion The sleeve 16 has one end which is internally threaded as at 29 and the sleeve is is also externally threaded as at 2-2 and has one end of an elongated tubular assembly generally referred to by the reference numeral 24 thread edly engaged therewith.

The tubular assembly .14 comprises first and second sleeve members 26 and 28 and the sleeve member 23 is internally threaded as at St) at one end and threadedly engaged with the externally threaded portion 28 of the sleeve 16. One end of the first sleeve member 26 is internally threaded as at 3th and is threadedly engaged with the externally threaded portion 22 of the sleeve 16. The end of the first sleeve member remote from the barrel 10 is internally threaded as at 32 and the second sleeve member 23 has one end portion 34 loosely telescoped within the end of the first sleeve member remote from the barrel it). The second sleeve member is externally threaded as at 35 intermediate its opposite ends and the externally threaded port-ion 36 is threadedly engaged with the internally threaded portion 32 of the first sleeve member 26 and includes a radial abutment shoulder 38 which abuts up against the end of the first sleeve member 26 remote from the barrel Hi.

It may be seen that the second sleeve member 23 includes a pair of large cross-sectional portions 443 and &2 and a pair of small cross-sectional portions and 4-6. The section of the first sleeve member 26 disposed between the internally threaded portions 39 and 32 thereof efi-nes a third large cross-sectional portion 43 of the muzzle brake 15 -The portions ill, 4-2 and -48 define expansion zones while the portions 44 and 4d define compression zones.

As a bullet 50 is forced out of the muzzle end of the bore 12 by means of the expanding gases 54', the gases 54 are first expanded in the expansion zone 43 and then compressed as they pass through the compress-ion zone 44. Then, the gases 54 are expanded for the second time in the expansion zone 40 and subsequently compressed for the second time as they pass through the compression zone Finally, the gases 5'4 are expanded for the third time in the expansion zone 42 and are then subsequently discharged into the ambient atmosphere.

It will be noted that the compression zones 44 and 46 are substantially cylindrical and that they are only slightly larger in diameter than the maximum diameter of the bore 12. In actual practice, the cylindrical compress-ion zones 44 and 46 are preferably only 93 of an inch greater in diameter than the diameter of the bullet which is to be passed therethrough.

The zone 40 is provided with a plurality of circumferentially extending radial slots 56 and the zone 42 is provided with a plurality of circumferentially extending radial slots 53. The slots 56, combined with the loose fitting of the inserted end of the second sleeve member 28 within the first sleeve member 26 comprise bypass means communicating the first and second expansion chambers or zones 48 and 4t) whereupon a portion of the gases 54, after being twice expanded, are passed backwardly into the first expansion zone 48 and again passed through the first compression zone 44 before sub- 7 principles of the invention.

From FIGURE 2 of the drawings it may be seen that the internal surfaces of the second sleeve member which communicate the compression zones 44 and 46 with the expansion zones and 42, respectively, are truncated cone-shaped and designated by the reference numerals dtiand 62. The internal surfaces of the second sieeve member 28 which communicate the first expansion zone with the first compression zone 42- are also truncated cone-shaped and referred to by the reference numeral 64 and act as a funnel to funnel the gases 54 from the first expansion zone 2-8 into the first compression zone 44. On the other hand, the internal surfaces of the second sleeve member communicating the second expansion zone id with the second compression zone 4-6 are truncated cone-shaped and designated by the reference numeral 66 but act as a restriction to the passage of the gases 54 from the second expansion zone 4%) into the second compression zone 46.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

A muzzle brake for the muzzle end of a barrel, said brake comprising an elongated first sleeve member having a bore formed longitudinally therethrough and including means on one end adapted to removably secure said one end to the muzzle end of a barrel with said one end telescoped over said muzzle end, an elongated second sleeve member including one end portion having a smaller outside diameter than the inside diameter of the other end of said bore and removably and telescopingly secured in the other end of said bore with a seal formed between the other end ofysaid first sleeve member and the adjacent portions of said second sleeve member defining a first expansion zone between said one end portions of said first and second sleeve members, the telescoped end portion of said second sleeve member having a plurality of bypass openings formed therein spaced etween the terminal end thereof and the other end of said first sleeve member, said second s eeve member including first and second axially spaced and diametrically reduced compression zones disposed between the telescoped terminal end of said second sleeve member and said bypass openings and between said bypass openings and the other end of said second sleeve member, respectively, defining a second expansion zone in said first sleeve member between said first and second compression zones and a third expansion zone between said second compression zone and the terminal end of the other end portion of said second sleeve member, the cylindrical area defined between the elescoped portions of said sleeve members communicating the interior of said first expansion zone and said bypass openings whereby three expansion zones and two compression zones disposed between adjacent ones of three expansion zones are formed and spaced axiallyalong said brake from the said one end of said first sleeve member to the remote end of said second sleeve member with the two expansion zones adjacent said one end of said first sleeve member being communicated with each other by means of said bypass openings, each of said expansion zones being appreciably greater in diameter than either of said compression zones, the other end portion of said second sleeve member having radially outwardly opening vent passage means formed therein spaced between the terminal end thereof and the compression zone adjacent said other end of said second sleeve member communicating the expansion zone adjacent the other end of said second sleeve memher with the ambient atmosphere.

References (Iited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,427,802 Goodwin Sept. 5, 1922 1,860,276 De Luce et al May 24, 1932 2,499,428 Tiffany Mar. 7, 1950 2,765,706 Strohl Oct. 9, 1956 2,925,755 Krus Feb. 23, 1960 3,021,633 Beretta Feb. 20, 1962 FOREIGN PATENTS 225,759 Great Britain Dec. 1, 1924 

